Easy Guide to Perfect Taylor Swift Curls

On practically every single gosh darn magazine cover, there is a smiling young woman with perfect undone curls, that look simultaneously sweet, soft, and slightly messy.

You don’t need a team of stylists to achieve this look - actually, it’s probably the easiest thing you’ll do all day! Grab your small barrel curling iron, a little bit of hairspray, and in 20 minutes you have can a style that goes flawlessly from day to night.

1. Give your whole head a once over with hairspray, holding the can about a foot away from the head. The idea isn’t to spray it wetly on one spot, but to get a little bit everywhere. Try throwing your hair upside-down and fluffing it so that the spray reaches all over.

2. Grab a small section of hair near your face. Hold the curling iron near your head, but here’s the clincher: don’t open it! Instead, pinch your section at the bottom and twist around the outside of the barrel. Hold there for as long as you need - if your hair is very healthy, thick, or coarse, you’ll need more heat and more time because those hair-types are not as pliable. I have always cursed my hair for being bleach fried and fine, but its styles up super quick.

3. Once you think the strand is ready, release it and move on to the next section. Repeat all over the head. Do not comb them out until you are done with the whole head and the hair has had a chance to cool and set. I like a lot of volume and messiness, so at the end I rough them up a lot and spray again - if I’m feeling ambitious I might even tease it a little. Don’t worry if it looks too over the top at first, because curls always relax with a little time.

Pro Tips for Perfect Curls

If you want a calmer, more uniform look, make sure you wrap all the sections in the same direction, i.e. if you wrapped your first section in the direction going away from your face, do all the other ones in that direction too. If you want them to look a little wilder, do them in alternating directions.  

Try pulling the strand straight up from the head before wrapping it if you want lots of volume, or let the strand hang and just curl the end if you want a chiller, more toned down look.  

If you already have wavy hair and just want to help it out a little, try just doing this on sections here and there to give a little control.

Happy curling!

 

 

 

Photo Credit: George Holz